


Dancing in the Shore

by Lohksparce



Series: A Guardian and a Dreg Walk Into a Bar [4]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Dancing, Fluff, Gaia-1 (Original Character) - Freeform, House Warming Gifts, M/M, Meeksis (Original Character) - Freeform, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:54:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23677201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lohksparce/pseuds/Lohksparce
Summary: Gaia-1 wants to do something nice for Meeksis, to brighten his little home up.
Relationships: Male Guardian/Original Fallen | Eliksni Character(s)
Series: A Guardian and a Dreg Walk Into a Bar [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695205
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	Dancing in the Shore

The City's sky was hazy and light gray, full of heavy clouds that cast a soft shadow all through the city and the Tower. Chilly rain pelted the windows, leaving hundreds of droplets to streak down and drop off into the courtyard below. Safe inside from the rain, Gaia-1 sat in a comfortable chair in his quarters, wrapped up in a warm, multi-colored blanket Zavala had knitted for him. He couldn't help smiling to himself, idly tapping at a datapad. Ever so often a song would play through the speakers, and the Exo's face would either nod approvingly or scrunch up slightly in disapproval to no one but his dozing Ghost. His optics had been glued to the VanNet for hours, as Palindrome had reminded him, but he wasn't digging through news or gossip, although he had seen several juicy tidbits floating about he'd bookmarked to read later. Right now, he was nose-deep in the VanNet's music archives.

Pre-Golden Age, Golden Age, Post-Collapse, it didn't matter.

Anything he thought Meeksis would like was loaded onto little data crystals, and added to the small, but growing pile of them on his coffee table. As long as it made him happy and dancing, he wanted it. The way Meeksis' eyes lit up when he was dancing and twirling made his reactor flare up with warmth. It made him feel like glitter. Stardust. Shimmering and bright, a radiant burst of energy that was full of life and joy. It was a wonderful feeling he never wanted to end. But even more so, Meeksis deserved new things.

Human tech was few and far between on the Shores, and it was a miracle the Dreg had kept things for himself. His datapad was an old model, and Meeksis had been listening to the same songs for so long. He wanted to give the Dreg a little piece of himself too, some of his favorites. Oh, he needed to bring him donut holes too. Maybe a blanket for his secret place... Something to spruce it up a little and make it more comfortable than old tarps.

Gaia-1 suddenly found himself wishing he'd taken the knitting course Zavala used to host.

Maybe he could get him to bring it back.

Quietly, Gaia-1 went over the songs he'd added to the latest data crystal. Pre-Golden Age classical, Golden Age techno and funk, and what seemed like a hundred other genres filled the crystal. Maybe that was enough, for now. It wasn't how much he gave, but what he gave, the feeling behind it, that mattered.

Meeksis' happiness was what mattered.

*** ***

Gaia-1 grunted, pulling himself out of the tunnel to Meeksis' place, dragging the bag out from the hole with him. Hopefully, all of the donut holes were unscathed. Granted, he could always make more of them, but he was going to be upset if they ended up scattered around in his satchel, getting bag lint on them and worse, spreading glaze all over the data crystals somehow. The precious little data holders had been put in a bag, but donut glaze was a tricky, tricky enemy to handle. He'd rather take a bullet to the ankle than end up breaking the Dreg's datapad, even if it could be replaced.

Gaia-1 got to his feet and dusted bits of asteroid dust and dirt off his armor. He adjusted his wing-like antenna and took a moment to transmat his armor off, leaving himself in a plain blue under-suit. He sucked in a breath and pulled himself through the crack, carefully weaving the bag around jutting rocks, including the one that had so rudely scratched his armor.

"I'm here," Gaia-1 called out, dragging himself out into the Dreg's home with a grunt.

Meeksis sat up in his hammock, face glowing purple from the engram-turned-lamp and hands going still around the new little trinket he'd found. He smiled, hopped off onto the floor carefully and sat the trinket on his shelf.

" **[** **Velask, Gaia]**." Meeksis chirped, crossing the tarp carpet and taking hold of Gaia's hand so he could give it a little squeeze. "All is well since last time?"

" **[Velask, Meeksis]**. Yeah, I'm doing good. Same old, same old stuff going on. Fighting lots of Hive," Gaia-1 laughed. "I gotta tell you something funny that happened though. And I brought some stuff for you including... donut holes!"

Gaia-1 accented the announcement by pulling out a box of donut holes from the bag.

"Many thanks!" Meeksis trilled happily, unable to contain the hatchling-like excitement that washed over him. He blinked and ducked his head a little before taking the box with a little coo. "Was hoping for some. One day I have to bring you Eliksni treat in return, eia. And what was funny thing?"

"That'd be great, I've always wondered what kind of foods you guys ate." Gaia-1 said, opening his bag further so he could pull out the other two boxes of donut holes he'd brought. He glanced around a little before sitting them on one of the more empty shelves. "Well, I was over on the Moon, right? I was over in Sorrow's Harbor for a patrol, and a bunch of Thrall started rushing me. There was a Knight behind them shooting at me too, and it accidentally shot one of the Thrall in the back of the head! Blew it through the air and into a rock. And boy, that Thrall was mad. It ran back over and it and the Knight started brawling!"

Meeksis blinked before bursting into a fit hissing, chittering laughter mid-way through a donut hole.

"Clumsy Knight pay price for bad aim." Meeksis said, finishing off the donut hole and grabbing two more. He held the box out to Gaia-1 and the Exo grabbed a few for himself too. "Never seen such before, but see Cabal slip on rock once. All limbs in air, then on back hard."

"He did. I didn't even have to kill it that time. And wow, I didn't even think Cabal were capable of slipping," Gaia-1 laughed, biting a donut hole in half. "Oh! Before I forget, I brought some stuff for you."

Meeksis tilted his head, curiosity piqued."Ooh, what stuff?"

"Just a second..."

Gaia-1 shoveled the donut holes into his mouth. He brushed bits of glaze onto his under-suit against his better judgment and sat the bag down on the tarp carpet. Nervous energy bubbled up within him, and the Exo tried his hardest to keep his mouth lights from flaring up so bright they'd probably blind the poor guy. Gaia-1 opened the bag up and snuck the data crystal bag out first, putting in a pocket on his suit. That had to be last, it was special.

"First, I brought you a nice big blanket. I saw it at one of the City's market stalls and thought you'd like it, and I know it gets pretty cold on the Shore so I wanna make sure you're nice and warm in here." Gaia-1 said, smiling. He pulled the blanket out and held it to Meeksis, who quickly sat the box of donut holes down on a nearby outcrop.

Meeksis let out a happy rumble that ended in a soft chirp, taking the blanket gingerly, careful not to poke any holes in it with his claws. It was thick though. So much thicker than tarps and banners, maybe it wasn't possible. With a coo, he spread it out. It was soft and a little textured, made of some material he had never seen or felt before but reminded him of banners. The whole thing was made of patches, stitched together: blues, yellows, pinks, oranges, and purples. So many patterns and colors everywhere, from one end to the other save for the white border. And the smells... It was full of them. Light and fresh, something a little metallic, but most of all, he smelt Gaia-1 on it. Meeksis smiled, nuzzling into the quilt.

Gaia-1 was right. He did like it.

"Perfect and nice. Thank you, Gaia." Meeksis purred lightly, stepping towards Gaia-1. Quilt still in his hands, he pushed into him with a hug and a little nuzzle. "Like it very much."

Gaia-1's optics widened and his mouth light's flared up before he could stop it. He raised his arms and hugged Meeksis back, smiling. "You're welcome, Meeksis. I'm glad to hear that."

"I lay on bed. One moment," Meeksis said, pulling away.

"Okay. I got a couple more things for you too." Gaia-1 pulled back, and he felt all warm and fuzzy inside. He went back into the bag and pushed past the datapad inside so he could pull out a fat, light blue candle and a little metal lighter.

"I wasn't sure what scent you'd like, so hopefully it doesn't smell horrible to you." Gaia-1 let out a little nervous laugh. He really hoped that. It would be terrible if the Eliksni thought the candle smelt like equivalent of week old trash or something.

"What is that?" Meeksis' clicked, staring at the candle curiously.

"It's a candle. We use them in the City for light and because they come in lots of different scents, like flowers or foods." Gaia-1 answered, smiling. "This one's smells like wildflowers. You light the little wick here on fire with this," He took a moment to show the Dreg how to use the lighter. "And then just let it burn for however long you want."

"Oh. Ooh! I understand. We have thing like it. Not... can-dle, but special lantern. Seen Captains with them, Kells and Archons too," Meeksis said, taking the candle and lighter from him. "Burn fragrant leaves in them, makes whole room smell good. And not so good at times."

The Dreg laughed a little. His mandibles parted as he smelled the candle. "Good smell. I can light now, yes?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

Meeksis turned and sat the candle on his shelf. He flicked the top of the lighter off, admiring the little flame before lighting the candle. The little metal rectangle reminded him of a tiny scorch cannon. He closed it back and set it next to the candle.

"Smelling good already." Meeksis chirped. "Thank you again, Gaia. You kind."

Gaia-1's reactor hummed up a storm inside him, and his mouth plate brightened. "Anything for you, Meeksis. I have one last thing to give you though. I saved the best for last too."

Meeksis blinked, ducking his head slightly. Not one or two, but three gifts?

He wasn't used to such things.

"What is it?" Meeksis asked softly.

Gaia-1 smiled and finally revealed the bag of data crystals to him. Meeksis took the bag gently, eyes widening. It was so small. What could be inside? He shook it a tiny bit and heard a metallic jingling. Slowly, he opened it, and inside sat six golden-yellow data crystals, and his mandibles parted idly.

"They're full of music from the Vanguard's archives. Anything I thought you'd like. One has my favorites on it too," Gaia-1 said, reaching out to take hold of the Dreg's free hand and give it a gentle squeeze.

Meeksis was silent. He looked down at the bag, then up at Gaia-1, and just stared. His mouth opened, but he couldn't find any words. His face was icy cold and his chest was tight and fuzzy inside like it was full of Hive moths. Excitement and joy were bubbling up inside him. He felt like a tiny hatchling again, like he wanted to go off running and squealing at the top of his hands. It was very, very difficult to will away the urge. How long had he been listening to the same music Rakviks had been playing? Long enough. He knew every song by heart, even more so with his greater understanding of Guardian speak. He loved and treasured them all, and while he hadn't gotten tired of them... new was nice. New was very nice. And he had so much new now that he didn't know what to do with it.

It was so much to explore. And he didn't have to be happy about it alone.

"Many, many thanks, Gaia-1! Ketch full of thanks." Meeksis purred loudly, expanding his arms to accent his point before letting out a burble of laughter and hugging the Exo tightly. "I play some now, eia?"

Gaia-1 barely had time to hug Meeksis back before he was practically bouncing over to where his datapad sat on the shelf, and the Exo just grinned.

There it was. That lovely glittery feeling that got him wanting to go slack in the jaw and shine brighter than the massive crystalline structure Ikora sat up for the last Dawning festival.

If he got any brighter, they could just string him up on a pole instead of it.

He really hoped he didn't blind Meeksis somehow.

Meeksis sat the bag of data crystals down gently and plucked one at random from it. A press of a button and a few taps on his datapad, and the crystal was sliding into its slot after he took out the one inside it already. He tapped the volume up, and music began to fill his secret home. A younger man started to sing, with a flowery beat and pleasant little chiming sounds interspersed without. Gaia-1 recognized it immediately. How had Meeksis manage to pick the crystal of his favorites?

The Dreg turned around and grinned. "Come, we dance!"

Meeksis took both of Gaia-1's hands and snatched him up with a joyous chirp, as much as he could considering their size difference, and the Exo just laughed.

They moved to the beat, bobbing heads and moving arms, anything that felt right in the moment no matter how ridiculous it might've looked to someone if they watched. And by the Traveler, Meeksis just looked so happy. It did things to his heart. His reactor. His heart-reactor that lay in his chest and was pulsing with warmth.

The song changed, and their dance changed. Song was fast paced, light and chiming with a quick beat and Gaia-1 swept Meeksis into his arms, one arm around his waist and the other holding his hand as they skipped and spun around the room in a circle, careful not to smack anything or run into a wall. Meeksis trilled and laughed, trying to keep up with the unfamiliar steps. Human dances were so strange but so fun. There was so much movement to them and humans didn't even have all the limbs an Eliksni had. Gaia-1 shifted and lifted the Dreg up higher for a moment, holding his waist gently as he spun them and Meeksis smiled down at him. His eyes were twinkling and utterly enchanting.

Gaia-1 sat him down gently and the song changed again. Another song and another dance. Meeksis fit his hands against the Exo's with a little coo, and he took an awkward stance: it was an old pre-Golden Age danced called the waltz. It felt fast and slow at the same time, and graceful; reminded him of an ireliis bow. The music that accompanied it was pretty too, like nothing he'd heard before.

Eventually, Meeksis and Gaia-1 were tired, faces flushed with hot and cold, and panting. Another song came on, and the Exo was thankful it was a slow one. His legs were probably even more thankful. It was slow and ethereal, almost lullaby-like with its piano sequences, with a gentle beat and a heartfelt singer whose calm voice threatened to lull them to sleep. Gaia-1 smiled softly at Meeksis, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him against his chest. Meeksis purred softly, eyes shut to glowing blue slivers, and he nuzzled into the Exo's warm chest as he wrapped his arms around his waist. The light scent of wild flowers was all around them, and somewhere, a ship roared softly as it flew by outside.

Dancing alone was nice.

Dancing with Gaia-1 was better.


End file.
